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Dow Chemical explains how their joint venture development with algae company Algenol Biofuels will work. The company says the ethanol produced from algae can either be used as biofuel or chemical feedstock.

Renewable chemical companies seem to be getting better in raising money from venture firms these days.

An article from Reuters cited the recent news (which I also posted in my news roundup) about biosuccinic acid producer DNP Green Technology raising $12m from venture firms Sofinnova Partners, Mitsui & Co., Venture Partners, Samsung Ventures Investment Corp., Clifton Group, and AquaRIMCO. All are new investors except for AquaRIMCO.

Reuters also noted other examples such as bioplastic developer Novomer when it raised $14m in August; Draths Corp. with $21.7m in spring; Segetis with a $15m start-up investment from Khosla Ventures in 2007; and recently Rennovia, where I posted in September about their $6m seed funding from 5AM Ventures and Versant Ventures.

Other company activities not mention were OPX Biotechnologies which raised $17.5m in April led by Braemar Energy Ventures; Zeachem, which raised $34m in January; Amyris Biotechnologies, which reportedly raised $41.75 million recently from new investors GrupoCornelioBrennand of Brazil and Naxos UK; and it is also noteworthy to mention the formation of Elevance last year with a $40m funding led by TPG Growth and TPG Biotechnology Partners.

There are of course several biofuel/renewable chemical players that are getting funds from traditional oil and chemical firms. These include Gevo that received X amounts of dollars (or Euro?) last April from French oil company Total; Shell increased its equity stake in Codexis last March; and ExxonMobil investing in Synthetic Genomics last July for more than $300m.

I'm sure there are many more out there that I haven't covered. Let me know! One more thing to mention (that probably already mentioned before) is that there seems to be a lot more interests from venture capital firms to look into green chemistry other than biofuels or other clean techs. I also recalled an email last summer from a venture capital firm interested in knowing more about who's who in this area.

That is why I formed my Green Chemical company list, which I hope will continue to grow.

I wonder what chemical companies (who deal with Walmart directly and indirectly) think about this new tool called GreenWERCS, which Walmart said will help them analyze the products on the market and identify risks across a broad spectrum instead of looking at each chemical individually.

The chemical screening tool GreenWERCS reportedly analyzes the composition of individual products from ingredients entered by manufacturers. It also examines potential impact of those ingredients on human health and the environment.

According to a recent blog by the Environmental Defense Fund, GreenWERCS uses a pre-identified scoring and weighting algorithm to provide information on the chemical ingredients of the products and whether they include:

* persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances (PBTs);
* carcinogens, mutagens or reproductive toxicants (CMRs); and
* potential hazardous waste.

GreenWERCS is said to represent the second phase of Walmart's new approach to assessing chemicals. Walmart's goal is to eventually set standards and metrics on the sustainability of each of the billions of products that they sell, from how they're made, how they're distributed to how they're disposed.

To know more about GreenWERCS, you can also check out the website of the company who develops the tool, the WERCS (World Environmental Regulatory Compliance Solutions).

Thanks to the Green Underworld Reporter about this green tech company called Itaconix that I have not encountered before.

Based in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, Itaconix (and its partners Microbia Inc. and the University of Maine) recently received a $1.8m grant from the US Department of Agriculture and Department of Energy to produce green polymers from itaconic acid fermented with sugars extracted from hardwood biomass.

Itaconix just introduced this year its polyitaconic acid-based product line Itaconix Super Absorbent and Itaconix Dispersant, which is produced from fermented itaconic acid with corn glucose as feedstock. With the grant, the company hopes to use waste biomass and lignocellulosic instead of corn as feedstock.

"The research possible through this biomass initiative offers another major step toward sustainability and away from petroleum dependence by allowing us to use biomass wood and not divert corn away from food uses," said John R. Shaw, principal of Itaconix.

According to the USDA, polyitaconic acid (PIA) is a water soluble polymer with a wide range of applications including superabsorbents (SAP), anti-scaling agents in water treatments, co-builders in detergents, and dispersants for minerals in coatings.

Itaconic acid was identified as one of the top 12 value added chemicals from biomass in 2004 by the DOE but its polymerization was identified as a key barrier to commercial development. This technical barrier was said to have been overcome by the University of Hampshire researchers which licensed the technology to Itaconix.

PIA is said to be an attractive replacement to the well established petroleum-based polyacrylic acid. According to Itaconix, potential global market for PIA is 1.65m metric tons/year with SAP occupying 67% of the market; 3% adhesives, 9% dispersants; 6% water treatment; 11% detergents; and 4% for new SAP markets.

In order to displace polyacrylic acid, Itaconix said it must reach a production cost below $1.5/Kg using biomass feedstock. PIA has been produced by Itaconix using commercial itaconic acid obtained by the fermentation of dextrose typically derived from corn or rice. Under such non integrated structure, PIA can be produced at a cost of $3/Kg.

Coskata's start-up of its semi-commercial flexible ethanol plant in Madison, Pennsylvania, today showcases the world's first commercially-viable flex ethanol process, according to Coskata officials.

The facility can have as much as 400 million gallons of capacity producing ethanol from numerous non-food based feedstocks such as wood biomass, agricultural waste, sustainable energy crops and construction waste. General Motors, one of Coskata's investors, will continuously test the ethanol produced its Milford Proving Grounds.

GM said it has already produced worldwide more than 5 million flex-fuel vehicles to date.

"In the U.S. alone, there are more than 3.5 million GM flex-fuel cars and trucks on the road. For the 2010 model year, 17 E85-capable flex-fuel vehicles from the Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC brands. GM is on track to make more than half of its vehicle production flex-fuel capable by 2012," said Bob Babik, GM Vehicle Emissions Director.

"The feedstock flexible nature of the Coskata approach also allows for true geographic flexibility, meaning facilities can be built anywhere a feedstock can be sourced or delivered."

"We anticipate being very much in DOE range of 4-5 dollars of installed capacity, and believe us to be unique in this regard," said Roe.

Japanese chemical company Teijin has been very busy last month with its bioplastic business.

After rolling out in early September its first bioplastic eyeglasses in partnership with eyewear manufacturer Tanaka Foresight, Teijin also rolled out (literally) its green carpet (also literally and figuratively) at the 22nd Tokyo International Film Festival. The film festival first used Teijin's eco-friendly carpet last year.

This year's green carpet used around 23,000 half-liter recycled PET bottles.

On September 17, Teijin announced the start-up production of its heat-resistant bioplastic BioFront at a demonstration plant in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture. The new demo plant expands Teijin's overall BioFront production to 1,000 tons as the company also manufactures the bioplastic at a 200-ton/annum pilot plant in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Teijin plans to increase the annual capacity of BIOFRONT to 5,000 tons by 2011, and eventually to tens of thousands of tons.

Last but certainly not the least, Teijin launched in China its Eco Circle closed loop recycling program in collaboration with major sports apparel company Li Ning Company Limited. As part of the program, Li Ning has designed tennis and training wear using Teijin Fibers' chemically recycled ECO CIRCLE FIBERS.

The 2009-10 winter lineup will be sold at 11 stores managed by Li Ning beginning this month.

A recent interview* with Dow Chemical (by ICB editor Joe Chang) reveals that the company estimates sales potential for its new solar shingles of around $5bn by 2015 and $10-11bn by 2020.

The company unveiled yesterday its line of DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle, said to be a revolutionary photovoltaic solar panels in the form of solar shingles that can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingle materials. The solar panels are made of low-cost, thin-film CIGS (copper indium gallium deselenide) photovoltaic cells.

The solar shingle systems will be available in limited quantities by mid-2010 and projected to be more widely available in 2011.

In the interview, Jane Palmieri, managing director of Dow Solar Solutions (DSS), said that that their solar shingle system will cost on average 10% less than applied solar panels - those that are bolted onto rooftops, and 40% less than similar building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems.

The use of Dow's solar shingles in a home would typically offset between 40-80% of power usage, or 2-4 kilowatts (KWs), said Palmieri.

*ICIS news link is subscription only.

Municipal wastewater solids could be a "hot" biofuel feedstock in the future thanks to continuous developments from companies such as Qteros and Applied CleanTech (ACT).

The companies announced today that they have formed a joint development project for more efficient and low-cost ethanol production using ACT's Sewage Recycling System to produce the waste-based feedstock Recyllose.

Qteros and ACT found that an ethanol production plant can produce 120-135 gallons of ethanol per ton of Recyllose™.

"A typical cellulosic ethanol plant would have to produce roughly 20-30 million gallons per year (MGY) in order to be profitable," says Qteros CEO William Frey. "With the proposed Qteros-ACT process, production with these economics could be viable at a smaller scale."

The companies said they are the first to demonstrate commercial success in creating ethanol from the cellulose in municipal and agricultural liquid waste, and to offer a process that all municipalities can use to help reduce expenses.

[Photo caption: Recyllose combustible]

Wow! There really seems to be plenty of stimulus money floating around when it comes green/clean technology development. That's definitely good news!

This time, the US Department of Energy (DoE) is awarding $1.4 billion for 12 carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. The first funding phase will involve a total investment of $44.1m (from both the stimulus funds and private funds), and the remaining stimulus grant will be awarded to those who can prove their technology works.

Projects involved include capturing carbon dioxide emissions from plants such as cement manufacturing, chemical plants, refineries, paper mills and other manufacturing facilities. The captured gas will be stored in deep saline formations and other geologic systems.

The DOE expects phase activities completion by 2010. Some of the companies involved in these 12 projects include, among others, Air Products, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Dow Chemical, Boise White Paper, Fluor Corp., Shell, CEMEX, ConocoPhillips, Leucadia Energy, Praxair, BP, and Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative.

By the way, somebody told me that CCS technologies are very much in its infancy and that the EPA is wasting a lot of money trying to rush these projects into market commercialization, which, that somebody said, are doomed to failure anyway. Cheerful thought eh?

Gevo said it is ready to rock the biofuels market with its ethanol facility-based biobutanol.

Soon, ethanol producers can also manufacture Gevo's biobutanol product as Gevo successfully started up its worldwide-first biobutanol demonstration plant in St. Joseph, Missouri, which is designed from retrofitting an existing demonstration scale ethanol plant.

The 1m gal/year pilot plant will produce biobutanol that can be blended directly into gasoline and [or] can be used to make renewable hydrocarbons ("green gasoline"), diesel and jet fuel, chemical intermediates and biobased plastics.

Gevo said the retrofit of the pilot plant was completed in less than three months, and represents the first step along the route to produce cellulosic biobutanol which will be possible once biomass conversion technology becomes commercially available.

The company estimates the additional cost of this capital equipment to be approximately 30 cents per gallon of installed ethanol capacity. Retrofit facilities will have the flexibility to produce either ethanol or biobutanol.

Gevo also formed a subsidiary, Gevo Development, LLC to develop a fleet of biorefineries based on retrofitting existing ethanol plants with Gevo's proprietary technology to produce biobutanol.

For more on biobutanol and next generation liquid biofuels, check out my articles on ICIS Chemical Business!